Legal and General Investment Management (LGIM) has plunged into the European exchange traded fund market with the acquisition of ETF Securities' fund platform.
The acquisition of Canvass brings $2.7bn (£2bn) of assets under management to LGIM.
Canvass manages investments for a number of ETFs on the platform, and effectively offers a white label service to other firms wishing to launch their own exchange traded fund service.
In total, it has a range of 17 products, across equity, fixed income and commodities.
An ETF is a marketable security that tracks an index, a commodity, bonds, or a basket of assets like an index fund. Unlike mutual funds, an ETF trades like a common stock on a stock exchange, and experiences price changes throughout the day as they are bought and sold.
Significantly cheaper than traditional fund management, ETFs are an incredibly fast-growing part of the investment market. Global ETF assets have risen from $800bn (£607bn) 10 years ago to $4.2tn (£3.2tn) at the end of August, according to industry data provider ETFGI.
Mark Zinkula, LGIM chief executive, said: “As a leader in product innovation, we are constantly exploring ways to deliver new investment solutions for our clients.
"The ETF market is one of the fastest growing segments in asset management. A number of long-term macro trends, including the increasing use of passive vehicles and the drive to digitalisation, will lead to a growing demand for ETF products.”
ETF Securities last week sold its ETF business to Wisdom Tree.
David.Thorpe@ft.com
